Rookie receiver David Bell could also see a sizable portion of Cleveland’s vacated targets.
Note: While a big part of fantasy football research is trying to assess how players will do when they go to a new team, it’s also critical to get a handle on what the old team is doing to replace those players. It’s an opportunity for players to step up and fill the void. In this series, we’ll examine six teams that had key departures this offseason and must find new ways to replace key fantasy production.
One way or another, the Cleveland Browns will have a new quarterback behind center this season. And whoever that signal caller is, they will have a largely new group of receivers at their disposal.
The turmoil in Cleveland regarding the NFL’s ongoing investigation of the franchise’s new quarterback, Deshaun Watson, has rightfully overshadowed the upheaval at the other skill positions. It appears more and more likely that the Browns quarterback to start 2022 will be Jacoby Brissett, not Watson, whom the team traded for in March and may face a suspension.
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Baker Mayfield, the former No. 1 pick and starting quarterback for the last three seasons, was dealt to the Panthers on Wednesday, months after he requested a trade just prior to the blockbuster deal that sent Watson from the Texans to the Browns.
Cleveland wasn’t an especially prolific passing offense in 2021 with Mayfield at quarterback. Though the Browns’ identity in recent years has been its ground game, its turnover at receiver is notable. Only three teams lost a higher percentage of their targets from a season ago.
The Browns’ top two target getters from a season ago, and four of their top six options, are no longer with the team. Jarvis Landry signed with the Saints, Austin Hooper took his talents to the Titans, Rashard Higgins left for the Panthers and Odell Beckham Jr. was notably let go midseason before signing with the Rams. That exodus vacated 46.6% of the Browns’ targets, according to 4for4.com, the fourth-most in the NFL. The total number of newly available targets is 233, the seventh-most in the league, because Cleveland’s offense operated at one of the lowest passing frequencies in the NFL.
The Browns upgraded their receiver room via trade and the draft this offseason, a sign the front office recognized the dire need it had after so many departures. Cleveland was in the bottom half of the NFL in points per game last season despite having a top-five rushing offense thanks to the play of Nick Chubb, Kareem Hunt and D’Ernest Johnson. A bump in passing production could go a long way in a tough AFC North, regardless of which quarterback lines up behind center. Going out and acquiring two capable pass-catchers as well as retaining tight end David Njoku are certainly positive steps in that regard.
Amari Cooper
In March, Cleveland acquired Cooper for pennies on the dollar – before top-end receivers began fetching multiple high-value draft picks. To be clear, Cooper isn’t on the level of Davante Adams or Tyreek Hill, who were not nearly as cheap for the Raiders and Dolphins, respectively, to acquire on the trade market. He is still a 28-year-old, four-time Pro Bowler and a former No. 4 overall pick who was nearly released and ended up only costing the Browns fifth- and sixth-round picks (they recouped a sixth-rounder from the Cowboys as well).
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The depression of Cooper’s value came on the heels of an injury-hampered season with the Cowboys, his worst with the franchise, and aligned with CeeDee Lamb’s first Pro Bowl nod. Cooper began 2021 with a 13-catch, 137-yard, 2-touchdown outing against the defending Super Bowl champs, but it was all downhill from there. He averaged his fewest yards per game (57.6) since 2017 and missed two games due to COVID-19. His final season stats were 68 catches on 104 targets for 865 yards and eight touchdowns, which matched a career-high.
The WR1 spot hasn’t been particularly fruitful in Cleveland in recent years. Mayfield supported two 1,000-yard receivers in 2019 (Landry and Beckham) but no Browns player has come close to that threshold since. Cooper will be the unquestioned No. 1 in this offense with plenty of young pass-catchers around him. The floor should be 110 targets and as long as he can get in the end zone, which he has with relative consistency since entering the league, he can be a viable fantasy option.
Shawn Childs wrote of Cooper in his Cleveland fantasy outlook: “My gut says he sets career highs in catches, receiving yards, touchdowns and targets.” That would mean more than 130 targets, 92 catches, 1,189 yards and eight scores.
David Bell
Cleveland found its replacement for Landry in the slot in the third round. Bell is a 6’2”, 195-pound receiver from Purdue who earned first-team All-American honors in 2021. He elected to leave school early after catching 93 passes for 1,286 yards and six touchdowns his junior year. That was the second 1,000-yard season of his college career and his 2020 season was limited to just six games by the COVID-19 pandemic, though he averaged more than 100 yards per game that year, too.
The book on Bell is that he’s not going to win a lot of footraces. His athleticism test results at the combine were unimpressive and he projects as a power slot, creating separation with his size, not his speed. Bell was capable of breaking off big plays at Purdue and averaged a career-best 13.8 yards per catch in 2021. That number figures to drop, though, given the more even footing he’ll be on with defenders at the NFL level.
Michael Fabiano dubbed Bell a “winner” for his landing spot and wrote “Bell has a chance to play a prominent role right away for a Browns team that doesn’t have any sure things at wide receiver behind Amari Cooper.” He could certainly provide some late-round fantasy value.
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Returning Players
Donovan Peoples-Jones is the No. 1 returning pass-catcher for the Browns. That doesn’t say much, though. The former sixth-rounder has been lightly used through two seasons of his career. He ranked third in the league in yards per catch (17.6) in 2021 and showed flashes of his potential. The speedster caught four passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout loss to the Cardinals as a snapshot of what he’s capable of, but he still had plenty of games where his involvement and impact were minimal.
The Browns signed Njoku to an extension in the offseason that made him the fifth-highest paid tight end in the league. So far, from a raw fantasy statistical perspective, he hasn’t done much to justify the deal. The former first-round pick has one season under his belt with 50-plus catches and 500 or more yards and it happened back in 2018, his second year in the NFL.
Njoku has missed 16 games across three years since then and has never scored more than four touchdowns in a season. Fabiano projects the Browns will face one of the easier tight end schedules in the league this season, though, and with Hooper no longer with the team, Njoku is the clear top target at his position.
Beyond the new receivers, DPJ and Njoku, second-year speedster Anthony Schwartz and running back Kareem Hunt round out the primary pass-catchers. It’s a diverse group in terms of skill set, though one not very proven in terms of fantasy production beyond Cooper and Hunt, who dealt with injuries last season.
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